This disclosure relates to methods for forming direct incident beam lithographic patterns in nanoparticle layers, and the articles formed thereby.
Industrial microelectronic applications typically use photolithography methods for the generation of micrometer-sized patterns, for example conductor tracks. Advances in technology and the demand for smaller electronics have led to further miniaturization of the patterns sought. For example, reducing the dimensions of functional elements can increase the scale of integration of silicon circuits. Current photolithography methods can be used to achieve patterns on a hundreds of nanometer scale. Such photolithographic methods are useful for the generation of one- and two-dimensional structures, that is, points (one-dimensional) and lines (two-dimensional).
Alternative methods for the formation of nanostructures on surfaces have been described, for example “direct write” methods such as electron beam lithography. In direct write methods, no mask is used to generate the final pattern. Instead, the final pattern is created directly, for example from a digital representation on a computer, by controlling an electron beam as it scans across a resist-coated substrate. Such methods have also been described for the formation of one- and two-dimensional patterns, for example in U.S. Pat. No. 6,309,798 to Reetz.